P & B Real Brides: Meet the Indore Bride with a Weighty Issue – Neha!

September 29, 2012

Meet Neha

Neha was one of the first brides to write to me, and once i read the write up, i knew i HAD to feature her. Its not often that someone opens up and talks about their vulnerabilities and insecurities the way Neha did. Hear Neha’s story.A girl currently living in Houston who recently got married to the love of her life. She talks about her slight weight gain, her experiences at her wedding and a ton of tips for Healthier brides.

Marriage: Love Marriage

How we met: Our story is written by Karan Johar we met and separated (when we were in 5th class) and then met became best of friends (in 9th) and then separated (in 10th) and then met again in (11thand 12th) and separated (after school) and then finally we met again (after our graduation) to never separate (that was cheesy). So it all started when we were 10 years old in class 5th. Fortunately both of our parents forgot to pick us up after school, so while we were waiting on them he read my face and surprisingly brought me a pastry and therefore ofcourse he was my first crush. After that we never met o talked and thendestiny brought us together again in May 2007 when we met again online and we started having overnight conversations and teasing fights and finally after finishing our higher studies from US and working for 1 year we got married in Feb 2012 in a resort close to Indore MP India. Currently we both are working and living in Houston.

My Wedding Story: Being a Healthy Bride in India

As I was working in the food lab as a quality assurance manager, I was not allowed bring my own food but we were provided the food from my company which of course was unhealthy most of the times and that caused me to gain 25 pounds weight although I was hitting Gym everyday but the diet part was all messed up. I tried really hard to lose some weight but not too much. Therefore I did my shopping keeping my body shape in mind but I was reminded that a little too much when I was in India for my shopping. Every sales person would tell me- “ Mam ye aapko nahi aayega apke size me available nahi hai” .Eeally u don’t have any unstiched lehnga for me coz I won’t fit into it? Although I am a very strong and confident girl but as I was pinpointed so many times on my weight I cried several times on the shops but somehow I maintained my poise and decided no matter how I will make it work for my dream. These are the things that I would suggest to brides of my body shape…

If you are heavier on the top part of your body choose a corset pattern blouse to cover any extra bump ( like I wore on my Engagement)

If you are heavier on your belly area, avoid wearing your lehnga in the center of your belly, instead tie it a little higher at the shortest part of your waist this will cover your belly fat and also if you have small legs it will give you an illusion of having longer legs and a good height in general.

If you are over all heavier opt for a corset style blouse and wear your lehnga right where your corset ends and try to have a tighter fitting till top of your things and then you can have huge poof this will give a longer and lean look

If your concern is your arms try not to wear short sleeves blouse instead opt for a ¾ or a full sleeves it will not highlight your heavy arms instead a full length sleeves will give an illusion of longer arms

Wedding Day Mishaps

– So this can only happen with me, u know how they say something or the other would go wrong on your D-day well, for me there way too many of those. So zips of all of my 6 blouse decided to take the day off on the respective days when they were supposed to work. So my aunt and cousin had to sew it manually for me

– Do you think that was not too bad, listen to this, the day all the events started I woke up with my chest and belly filled with pus rashes because of the allergy caused by body wax or spa and I can’t take any allergic meds otherwise I would be drowsy the whole day and I had to wear those blinged up blouses and heavy jewelry

– And if all that was not enough, I had 1 more bad memory of that day which later turned into a great one. You know how every girl dreams of that one day where she will be the princes/ bridezilla, and will be pampered and loved and basically the most important person. Well for me the reality was way south from that dream. No one I repeat “no one” complimented me on my wedding day that I am looking beautiful…Except ofcourse my husband. Who held my hand while I was babbling about how everything went wrong that day and told me shut up and said u r the most beautiful women I have ever seen and I’m in love with u again… and trust me that look in his eyes will stay with me forever it was so pure. And I closed my eyes and only enjoyed the moment as I was with him and my family and friends and hence I have all my pic with my biggest smile trust me that is not fake.

OUTFITS

Engagement Outfit: 60K

Yellow and red puffy lehnga from Millionaire Bombay (20K) I just wanted something yellow and accidently I saw this lehnga in millionaire asked its prices and I fell in love with it Some good places to Start your hunt as all of these stores have a good online collection just to get the feel

Jewellery: Exclusively.in mostly, art karat, sonoor (you can check out the collection online for all of the stores I have Mentioned. And Santacruz Bombay from sajni jewelery.

Make-up artist – Shruti Bajpai from Indore her fb page is Shruti Bajpai Makeovers, She has done Pune Lakhme Fashion week and some celebrity cover shoots. . She has packages according to what company you would like to use for example her Mac package is 4000K but Chanel, Dior, YSL product package it 15K. but in the end for me it was around 20 K

Photographer: Alif Studio Indore (affordable and not too bad ), some other good ones are Dev’s photography, Arts Royale.

89 comments

Neha.. You looked lovely during the wedding- your makeup was fabulous … And I also love the yellow lehenga- it made you look so pretty. Sales persons in India are often crass and silly, so you really shouldn’t bother..all the very best for a very happy married life after such a sweet love story!

Neha, its high time you got your share of compliments :D first off, you look really radiant in your bridal lehenga, the sepia toned pic with you peering through your veil/dupatta, you look utterly gorgeous there.
Your Red & Yellow lehenga looks amazing on you and trust me,in that pic you look like you have just stepped out of a Raja Ravi Verma painting…
you are a strong & beautiful girl with a great life ahead of you, 6 snapped off blouse zips or allergies can’t pull you down.So kudos for rocking at your own wedding and here’s wishing you a very long & happy married life :)

Neha…u may not have had a dream wedding day…but u’ve got a dream love…this is what true love is…cherish it..congrats…and happy married life… :) and I love ur mehendi and jewellery, and ur smile in that second pic ! radiant ! :)

I almost re lived my wedding in your post.. I have weight issues too because of PCOS and I remember nobody complimenting me on my wedding or any other function other than my own family. Also the boy’s side was more critical because of the cultural difference and maybe I really couldn’t carry off the Kanjeevaram wedding saree at ease as south Indians do!!

However I really salute your spirit. You sure had a tough time but all is well that ends well..
Love

Chunchun, I can totally get you..but luckily my in laws are very sweet I’m sure they liked me but were very caught up with the guests and other stuff.. but u know no matter how confident and beautiful u r ..u want to hear it again and again..coz thats how dreamt ur D day!!! But u know in the end what matters is being with ur love, ur family and friends!!

i wonder if all indian weddings are more or less shitty, havent met too many girls who said they loved their weddings. i didnt receive any compliments from the boy’s side throughout and that was because i did a reasonable priced wedding without wearing gold by the truck loads and my MIL wore more gold than me and had a saree that was twice the cost of my saree… so my wedding pretty much sucked.

I wonder why no one gave you a compliment! Maybe they thought that you must’ve heard it from someone else-you know the silly things we do-like not to give someone a compliment thinking-“ahh others must’ve said it and she must have heard it a million times-it’ll mean nothing to her” ?

You do look lovely and I guess you know, but I’ll still say it, yours is a true love story with the quintessential dream guy! Congratulations Stunner!

Neha, you look gorgeous..and I love your yellow lehenga and your honesty! I think alot of us have gone through/are going through the same thing. What matters is your husband…and how he seems like such a wonderful person! As long as you felt like a princess..nothing else matters! To hell with the rest :)

aww, you look beautiful! I love the yellow and red lehenga.. I think I have seen it in a movie or somewhere! And girl, you look absolutely stunning and gorgeous in your wedding dress..!! :) god bless you and your husband!

Wow, you are such a brave girl …. rashes and allergies on the d-day ??? zips not fitting ??? no compliments at alll ??? I cannot imagine and never heard any story like this so far …. OMG, had it been me, I would have created personalized Tsunami for everyone on that day …. you have great poise, patience and peace above all …. You are a heavy metal rocking bride !!! God bless the both of you :)

Neha – you look absolutely radiant!!!! I absolutely ADORE all your looks!! Esp the yellow one!! Im looking for something similar for my Mehendi. Do you know if that store is in Delhi?
Also looooove the wedding lehenga – u look like a fairy!!!

I worry a bit that this will come off as insincere, but I’ll say it anyway. You looked beautiful. Not beautifully dressed, not beautifully made-up (although you were both those things), but radiantly, joyously pretty. Weddings are so big, it’s easy to get carried away with the pageantry and the clothes and the lights and the music, that we forget it’s really about two people joining their hands and joining their hearts and building a life together. You and your husband know that, and you guys are going to be amazing together!

From a purely material point of view: Dude, you looked AMAZING! That has to be my favourite Real Brides lehenga ever! And the way you tailored the skirts on the yellow and pink lehengas is great, I’m stealing that.

Hahha sure Frances… U can. Thanks for such a huge compliment thanks for liking me as a bride!! U know i never tried on my clothes as I ordered them online and I received then 4 days before the yellow and the pink one and they were loose as I lost some weight in 2 months since I ordered it.. but it ended up looking really good!!

Hehe sure Frances… U can. Thanks for such a huge compliment thanks for liking me as a bride!! U know i never tried on my clothes as I ordered them online and I received then 4 days before the yellow and the pink one and they were loose as I lost some weight in 2 months since I ordered it.. but it ended up looking really good!!

Yepp I was aware of that as my father in law is a doctor he suggested that but I just did not want anything to go wrong so I only was applying some lotions and stuff instead to taking anything!! Thanks a lot dear for ur words!!

You look like princess. I would have cried all the way till stage with all these things going wrong. You are a very brave.
No other compliment from anyone would have been that special what boy said to you. It was just a happy ending to KJ style movie. Wish you a very happy married life!!

I absolutely love all the three dresses…you look beautiful in the wedding lehenga…
most salesman are insensitive fools…so don’t even bother yourself about their behavior…
and compliment or no compliment…it doesn’t change the fact that you looked absolutely radiant and beautiful

You can only be truly healthy if your mind and body is. I think there is nothing wrong being big as long as you keep fit and as long as you are happy, nothing else matters. I’m not slim like more Singaporean girls are and it is really tough shopping but I have learnt to pick whats good and decent for me. It takes awhile but its all worth it. We only live once and happiness is more important than anything. I’m glad you have found yours! Congrats on your wedding and have many many blessed moments ahead!

Its hard to believe that no one complimented you Neha… let me make it up to you for all those ppl… You made one the mostttt Gorgeous brides everrr..you are radiating in all the photos and I am sure it was multiplied by 10 in person. :)) You are a very brave girl.. stay that ways !

Hi Neha..Its hard to believe no one complimented.. Your looking absolutely gorgeous & loved your wedding lehenga…And I really admire the way you have put down all the tips for healthy brides…Congratulations on your wedding!

Totally understand your woes !!! Aaj kal, there is no peace for girls on the heavier side [Like me!].. I experienced very similar headaches for my wedding day…

I am a mallu, so had to wear saree.. so no escape from belly bulges!! :( And relatives, esp older ones [somehow they think they can criticize anyone anywhere anytime, so long as their hair is grey!] kept repeating – “You should ve lost weight..if you’d you would have looked good!!” ..

Hi Neha, great post and I seriously appreciate your honesty….. your hubby’s found a gem in you!!

Am kinda cheesed off at all those folks who did NOT compliment you on your wedding day ‘coz you really do look happy and radiantly lovely…I am serious… and like the other commenters here, I’d say the most important thing is that your man thinks you look beautiful…trust me, nothing else matters!!!!

Just so you know, I was a chubby bride (Ahem!!)…and am now a chubbier wife ;P….since ours was a traditional Kerala Christian wedding, there was no escaping sarees…. a total lard onslaught, I tell you…sigh!!

Zahra… first off I really like ur name wat does it mean?? And a big thanks to u for ur wonderful words it makes me feel I was not the only one and that there will be more brides like us so I am glad I can in help in anyway possible..

hey neha…u look lovely…the perfectly glowing bride.Check the pictures…wow!! i think ppl were actually dumbstruck that day and so they didnt compliment u.But the person who matters the most held ur hand and told u such nice words.What can be better than that!!the maroon lehnga…is just awesomely…superb!! :) :)

i just want to tell u all… that i know Neha personally…. She is my best buddy…. She is very strong n full of life… her face shines like sun… n how she had dealt with her wedding preparations…. ? i really Hats off… for her “GUT’s….. keep it up!! U look superb dear in all dresses …. n yellow lehenga…. is my fav…. so graceful…. n divine… more than that…u have million dollar smile …. n received compliments from ur hubby…. How sweet….:)) n datz made u to blush …. u r looking as beautiful as DIVA… so Three Cheers…:)) thank u for sharing suggestions… as i also have same body structure….:) Luv u n best wishes

btw i must tell u , i liked u in pink, you are positively radiant. (and i generally dont like pinks, but you are wearing it beautifully.) and i am sure u know in laws are not meant to praise u hahaha wink wink.. they might have been jealous.

Neha, all the comments from these ladies here are absolutely true. You look super-cute and your wedding lehenga is absolutely beautiful. I hope all the compliments here make up for the wedding day. :) The yellow lehenga is stunning on you and it looks like it fits like a dream.

I am also the same size as you and I can’t imagine how ride these sales-people were to you. It makes me want to put them in place and teach them how to behave!

I would love to see full length pictures of all your lehengas. If its not too much trouble, please email them to me at monica.rawat@gmail.com Wishing you a fantastic married life!

HI Neha, First of all congrats and after such a lovely wirte-up of your wedding days, you deserve complements for being so confident and brave to handle such stupid but bothering issues.
You are beautiful and was looking extremely GOOD in all the awesome outfits you chose. YELLOW One and Maroon one is to die for.
I am from Indore and can truly understand but loved the fact you belonged to my place.
Take care and have a happy married life. enjoy….

Aww Neha, bless you for sharing your story with us and being so honest. I’m a non-Indian woman marrying an Indian guy in February and let me tell you, I am absolutely dreading shopping for clothes for the Indian wedding. I’m probably twice the size of the average Indian woman (5feet 8inches tall and a size 16), so there’s no way I’ll ever find anything off the rack in a shop. I’m sorry to hear the sales people treated you so rudely and now that makes me dread shopping in India even more!! Anyway, you look absolutely fab in your photos and your hubby sounds so sweet. Wish you lots of love and happiness.